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Do not open the door without a warrant, do not speak to federal agents without the presence of a lawyer. Unlike state level law enforcement it’s actually illegal to lie to a federal officer. They will attempt to confuse you and get you to lie or mislead them and will prosecute you for that if they can’t pin you for something worse.
Absolutely. Under normal circumstances, the full version of the guidelines is:
- Go to the door, walk outside to speak with them without giving time for them to step in and absolutely without inviting them inside, and close the door behind you.
- You do have to identify yourself, with a physical ID or with name and birthdate. It can be a crime to refuse under certain circumstances and unless you are crystal clear on the law it’s probably a better idea to ID yourself rather than give them a reason to arrest you.
- Cooperate if they want to arrest you or they serve you with a signed search warrant. Arguing or resisting will do absolutely nothing to prevent them from violating your rights, if you believe they are violating your rights, but it will get you some additional charges which can be pretty serious. If they say they need to pat you down for weapons, or announce that they are searching your car, make it clear that you don’t consent, but don’t try to physically prevent them from doing it, because that is a crime.
- As far as any questions or searches outside of those specific areas, it is always Shut The Fuck Up Friday. Answer absolutely nothing. Agree to absolutely no searches. Say that if they’re here for a criminal investigation, you will only speak to them through legal counsel and ask if you’re free to go. They will start with harmless questions, they will be friendly a lot of the time, they will sound reasonable. Ask if you’re free to go. Repeat that you have nothing to say. Be polite but firm, be patient, and shut the fuck up. Leave as soon as they tell you you’re free to go, but otherwise just be chill and don’t say shit in response to whatever they have.
- If they do arrest you they may make it sound like a good idea to speak with them, because it will help you. It will not. It will help them build their case, that is literally the only possible reason they might give a shit about spending time with you. Anything that is actually advantageous about talking with them will still be advantageous after you’ve talked with a lawyer. Again, be polite, but shut the fuck up whatever they say or however they manage to make it sound.
That is all advice for the before times, sometimes it is wrong now. ICE in particular has a habit at this point of just giving up and going away if people don’t come outside, and snatching them if they do come outside. It’s hard to give advice in general, but I would say that if it’s feds at this point, or if your local law enforcement is friendly with ICE, just pretend you’re not home and just wait for them to bust down the door if that’s what they’re planning to do. They will either do that or something like it, or they will leave. Might be a good idea to put your phone on silent and text some people you know letting them know what’s happening, too.
The only exception I can think of to this is if they threaten to send the K9 in, if you don’t come to the door, and you may get bit. Are they bluffing? I don’t know, man. Use your best judgement.
And of course, maybe it’s a good idea now to make a bunch of noise, get your neighbors involved, keep the door locked, intimidate them back. There are so many scenarios that it’s really just hard to say.
Anyway, if they do bust the door in (or pull you out of the car or whatever), it’s a good time to practice your shut the fuck up skills. Don’t say you were sleeping. Don’t say you were in the back and didn’t hear anything. Don’t say you didn’t answer the door because fuck you blah blah blah constitution. Just shut the fuck up. Why didn’t you answer the door? “I’ve got nothing to say sir.” Didn’t you hear us? “I’ll only answer questions with legal counsel.” We were out there for a while though. You must have heard us. “Like I said, I’ve got nothing to say, sir.” And so on.
Like I say things are changing. This is just generic advice. Things now are getting unstable.
You absolutely should not go outside. You have rights in your home you don’t have when you leave it. If for some reason you want to talk to potentially adversarial cops, do it from within your house and behind a closed door. You have no obligation to speak to them just because they come to your door.
You have rights in your home you don’t have when you leave it.
What rights are those? Be specific.
Again, my advice is for the before-times. Whatever TikTok would have you believe, you will not shield yourself from getting arrested simply by trying to hide in your house if they do have a warrant for you, and it is not unsafe to walk out and talk with them if they don’t have a warrant for you (as long as you don’t say shit and keep it brief). If you try to hide in your house and make them break in if they do want to take you, all you’ve done is created damage to your house which they will not fix and also given them the opportunity to see things in plain view inside your house in the performance of their duties.
In the current times… yeah, like I said, you might be right. Be careful. I honestly wouldn’t even try to have the through-the-door conversation unless I was confident of what agency they were from and that they were legit in whatever they were trying to do, I might just stay quiet inside and see what happens.
Again, my advice is for the before-times. Whatever TikTok would have you believe, you will not shield yourself from getting arrested simply by trying to hide in your house if they do have a warrant for you, and it is not unsafe to walk out and talk with them if they don’t have a warrant for you (as long as you don’t say shit and keep it brief).
Even in the “before-times” there is no reason to actually answer the door unless they present a warrant signed by a judge.
What is the benefit of stepping outside the legal protection of your home? You are under no obligation to speak to the police even if you have been arrested, you cannot be forced to incriminate yourself in a crime. That’s why we have the 5th amendment.
The go too line is “I don’t answer questions without a lawyer present”. If they press you and tell you that they will charge you with impending an investigation. Tell them “I would love to cooperate, but I really feel I would need to speak to a lawyer first”. This makes any delay in the investigation their responsibility as things would be moving along if they weren’t denying you your right to representation.
What rights are those? Be specific.
The Fourth Amendment protects the sanctity of the home against unreasonable searches and seizures. A warrant is required to enter a private residence for a routine arrest, establishing that there is probable cause and that a judge has authorized the police to enter. Exceptions to this rule include emergencies, consent, and “hot pursuit,” where police have probable cause to believe a person is fleeing into the home to escape an immediate threat.
Meaning that by stepping outside your home, the required probable cause for your arrest is lowered to the judgement of the arresting officer and not a Judge. Just opening the door can open avenues of argument in court, like the cop lying and saying they heard someone ask for help, or that they saw illegal activities happening from the doorway.
Even if it may not protect you from being arrested, if an officer violates your 4th amendment protections any evidence found during an illegal search is dismissable in court.
Never answer the door unless they present a warrant with a judges signature. A good investment is a camera with 2 way voice communication, so if you do want to communicate with police(to tell them to leave), you can do it without breaching the legal security of your home.
Cops can’t enter your home without a warrant, exigent circumstances, or your consent, which means cops can’t arrest you without the same, maneuver you into a position to provoke you into resisting or “assaulting” them, or detain you in hopes that you’ll talk to them to get out of it. The door is a very clear legal and physical barrier to keep any interaction on your terms.
You don’t have to open the door or speak to police! You only have to open the door if they have a warrant. If they do, ask them to slide it under the door. There is nothing to gain by talking to them when they are investigating you.
Harder to do when they’re in plain clothes like this.
No it’s not. I literally never answer my door or acknowledge someone being there, whether they are peddling religion or girl scout cookies.
That’s so fucked. For one I would’ve slammed the door on their face. And another thing, I would’ve been gathering everyone I could to show up to the no kings protest the next day.
These are scare tactics.
He forgot to ask if they had a warrant.
Your name was brought up.
Brought up by some surveillance AI.
Is Clearance Thomas this guy’s uncle? Does he aspire to work in Musk’s house?
You have literally nothing to gain from talking to law enforcement.
